


Earning his Wings

by Captainrexsbiggestho



Series: Fortunate Sons [4]
Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Clone Troopers - Freeform, Clones, Vietnam War AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-16
Updated: 2018-10-16
Packaged: 2019-08-03 00:50:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16315955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Captainrexsbiggestho/pseuds/Captainrexsbiggestho
Summary: Hardcase goes through just another routine crash.





	Earning his Wings

**Author's Note:**

> I couldnt find Hardcases CT number so i just made one up.

 

Hardcase was just twelve years old when he saw his first helicopter, he knew from that moment that all he wanted to do was fly. He had posters on the walls of his room with all kinds of different machines, but his favourite was the Bell 47, that was the one he had seen on the television, when he walked by a store window. He had saved all his pocket money and paper delivery money for models and posters. On his 15th birthday Rex had come home and taken him for a drive to the airstrip.

“Rex what are we doing here?”

“Well since you like flying so much, Jesse and I paid for you to go for a ride in one.”

Hardcase’s eyes lit up at the thought, he hadn’t been in a chopper ever, and out on the tarmac sat a Bell 47, its glass canopy gleaming in the sun. Hardcase went on the flight for an hour and returned grinning from ear to ear.

“The pilot said he wants to give me lessons, says he needs someone young to do the mainland run.” He beamed at his older brother.

Eleven years later, Hardcase was flying low over treetops, so low he felt like the skids might touch, and fast, with the cargo bay full of men that put their lives in his hands, failure meant death here. He thought back to simpler times, when getting in a chopper didn’t mean delivering men to their deaths, to a time where all he had to do was enjoy the sight of the shimmering ocean before him, but things where different now, people grow up and have to make the hard choices, like lifting off when there’s still men on the ground needing exfil, but you cant because you’re too weighed down already, the faces of those men he left behind seared themselves into his mind, as did the sight of downed choppers and black smoke billowing from them, but that was war and these things just happened.

It was another routine flight, dropping off fresh troops to a hot zone, casevac the wounded. Bullets pinged and whined as they bounced off the nose of his Huey. He did this all day, only stopping momentarily to refuel back at base, he couldn’t afford to become fatigued, his hands ached from holding the collective and cyclic, keeping his machine operating at maximum revs, the sound of the engines pitching and whining under the strain; his feet steady on the pedals keeping everything balanced. It was going to be the last run, just picking up the last couple of stragglers, easing down onto the open field, Hardcase heard a pop and a hissing sound, that’s when his heart sank. “Get out! Now!” he ordered his gunner crew, they all knew the drill, jumping away from the machine, there had been a hydraulic failure, Hardcase tried to get forward movement but found that he was too close to the ground, one of the skids hit the ground, flipping the machine onto its nose, there was nothing Hardcase could do, the chopper thrashed itself into pieces in a smoky mess flinging engine oil as it ruptured every line.

When Hardcase opened his eyes, he was on his side, still strapped to his chair, the canopy cracked and smashed, he took stock of himself, his shoulder hurt like hell, must have popped it out, _Kix is going to kill me._ He managed to climb out of the cockpit and found the rest of his crew, they were all uninjured and astounded that he had survived, it was dark, and they were surrounded by thick jungle, he had his pocket map and compass, the only way back to base was to walk, through enemy territory with no comms and just his sidearm.

Making his way through the jungle proved to be more of a challenge than he first thought, especially when he was trying to stay silent, _how the hell do Fives, and Rex do this?_ He now had a new appreciation for all the infantrymen on the ground, who did this daily. The small crew had been walking for hours, Hardcase’s injured shoulder only seemed to be getting worse, and he knew his aim would be off, holding his pistol in his left hand. A few more hours passed by, and the small group were heavily fatigued and covered in mosquito bites, suddenly a hand wrapped around hardcases mouth, he couldn’t call out to the others, he was dragged back into the shadows, he tried to struggle, he had heard the stories of what had happened to prisoners, he would rather die than be subject to that kind of punishment, he was an officer too, they didn’t take kindly to pilots and officers. When the hand was moved from his mouth training kicked in and he reverted to what was known as the big four.

“Hardcase Fett, Warrant Officer, serial number 3475, 17th May 1937” He was listing his name, rank, serial number and date of birth, and that was all he would give his captors.

“Hardcase shut up, it’s me Fives, I’ve been sent out to find you.” His brother whispered sharply in his ear. Hardcase just about went limp with relief, he turned around to face his brother, Fives was covered in ferns and branches, his face covered in green and black paint. “It’s alright brother, as soon as we heard that you had gone down I was sent out to find you.” Hardcase nodded still in shock from thinking he had just been caught by the enemy. The group followed Fives the rest of the way, Fives kept an eye on Hardcase’s injured shoulder, “you’ll be out of the air for a bit with that one”

“Nah, they just have to get me a new chopper and I’ll be right as rain.” He replied as they strode back to camp. Hardcase returned from the medical tent, only to plop down next to Fives around a fire pit, “Fucking medic, declared me unfit to fly for the next week.” He looked pissed.

“We got you back and that’s what matters, besides that gives you a week to catch up on some extra curricular activities.” Fives winked at him and shoved a cigarette into hardcases hand, “Now stop grumbling, have a smoke and relax.” Hardcase took a drag, glad to be back with a brother.


End file.
